


Original Plans

by AnniereadsStuff



Series: Writing something everyday [4]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Heart-to-Heart, Law is just bad at feelings in general, Luffy Being Luffy, Luffy is bad at recognizing feelings, M/M, Smart Monkey D. Luffy, Talking, well he is people-smart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:21:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28052331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnniereadsStuff/pseuds/AnniereadsStuff
Summary: Law’s original plan - to die on Dressrosa - didn’t work out. Luffy’s original plan - to make Law accept his friendship - did work better than expected. There are just some bumps along the road.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Trafalgar D. Water Law, Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Series: Writing something everyday [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050545
Comments: 7
Kudos: 138





	Original Plans

When Torao first proposed an alliance to him, Luffy was elated. An alliance was basically a friendship and you could never have enough of those. Also Torao was a good guy, no matter what his other crew members said about him. _They don’t call him the surgeon of death for nothing,_ Usopp had argued rather urgently and Luffy had brushed him aside. The Marines had called Luffy chaotic, completely nuts and even dead before, and none of that was true either. (Maybe he was a bit chaotic, but the other things were lies.)

_Pirate alliances are marked by betrayal,_ Nico Robin had said, always the wise one of them, and so Luffy had asked Torao if he planned to betray them. He denied and really, that was enough for Luffy. If Torao had wanted him dead, he just didn’t have to show at Marineford. While Luffy wasn’t sure why he _did_ show up at Marineford - Torao never gave simple answers to his questions, and thinking about what Torao gave as answers for too long made Luffy’s head hurt - he was sure that Torao wouldn’t have been there if he wanted Luffy to die. He did risk his own life and his entire crew on top of it. You don’t just do that out of a simple mood.

So an alliance it was. While Kaido was arguably the Emperor he knew the least of, he was still a better target than Shanks was. Maybe taking on Big Mom first would have been smarter, since he already started an argument with her on Fishmen Island, but Big Mom could wait. He would take her down eventually anyway and if Torao thought it would be smart to go after Kaido first, than Luffy would trust his judgement. Torso was smart after all. Also this seemed oddly personal to Torao. At least the part of the plan that involved Doflamingo did.

*

It turned out, Torao didn’t betray them at Dressrosa. At least not in the way his crew thought he would. He did try to end the alliance and by extent their friendship, which counted as betrayal in Luffy’s book. But he was unsuccessful, because Luffy would have never ended their alliance at this point anyway. There was a time and place, when they would have to part ways again, eventually. But it wasn’t on Dressrosa, not when Torao looked like he was ready to die and not when he tried to protect Luffy. (There was someone, in a somewhat distant past, who lost an arm to protect Luffy and someone, in a not so distant past, who _did_ give his life to protect Luffy. He wouldn’t let it happen again.)

So no, Torao was not allowed to end the alliance. Which annoyed him, of course, but Luffy didn’t care. He could defeat Doflamingo without the elaborate plan Torao had made. He didn’t even remember most of it anyways, and he was somewhat sure, that the plan had failed the moment Luffy entered the coliseum in an effort to get Ace’s devil fruit back. Plans never worked out for him anyway, not in the way they worked out for Torao. He had a general idea of what he had to do and he would get it done. Somehow.

Maybe the Marines weren’t so far off, when they had called him chaotic.

But Luffy wasn’t upset now, because Torao betrayed their friendship. They would have to talk about that eventually, but it wasn’t the main issue. Torao was prepared to die in Dressrosa. He expected it, he probably even had his death integrated in his plan somewhere. (Maybe Luffy should pay more attention the next time a plan was presented to him.) And that was the most upsetting thing that happened to him since they entered the New World. Because Torao didn’t lack trust in Luffy or any of the Strawhats. He pretended he thought their were idiots and he looked like he lost hope in humanity when Luffy, Usopp and Chopper had fun on deck, but he really believed in and trusted them. He was confident they would still follow his plan after his death after all.He just didn’t think Luffy could defeat Doflamingo.

I would have been insulting, if Torao was any less scared about Mingo.

He never told Luffy why he was scared, he never even seemed scared. (Not like Usopp and Nami and most times even Chopper did.) But he was. He was scared and he went up against him anyways, fully prepared to die and Luffy hated everything about this.

„Why are you brooding here?“, a voice snapped him out of his thoughts and surprisingly, it was Torao. He would have thought if anyone came looking for him it would have Usopp. Zoro would have also been a likely candidate, if there were any less alcohol. But the drinks were flowing, so Zoro wouldn’t miss him for a while. Luffy wasn’t exactly a drinking buddy, he rarely drank alcohol as it was and that made him an uninteresting companion for Zoro at parties. Not that he minded, there were plenty of other people he could do plenty of other things with. Just Torao wasn’t really on the list.

„I’m not ‚brooding‘“, Luffy used his fingers to make air quotes, „I’m not you after all. I was just thinking.“

„That’s new“, Torao answered, sounding way more surprised than he had any right to, in Luffy’s opinion.

„I can think“, he protested, crossing his arms in front of his chest, while turning away from the other. And then, for good measure he slightly lifted his chin and added: „And my thinking doesn’t end in me dying either.“Which was probably something he shouldn’t have said out loud. Not like that. But it was also true and something he wanted to discuss with Torao anyways, so Luffy couldn’t find it him to regret saying it. (He did regret the way he said it, later, when he’d calmed down.)

„My survival wasn’t essential for the plan“, Torao informed him professionally. The same way he told Luffy not to exercise too much after he’d woken up on the submarine. The way he told Jinbei to keep an eye on Luffy, if he didn’t want the Strawhats to die. The very same way he told Rayleigh, that Luffy’s training would have to be postponed for a few weeks or else his stitches would tear. It made Luffy sick.

„Your survival was important for me“, he argued and Torao looked like wanted to say something to that too.Except that he didn’t. His mouth opened but no words came out and then Torao closed it again. Luffy waited a few more seconds, in case there was something to say after all. Makino might not have succeeded installing manners within him perfectly, but he knew the basics. He always let people say their piece. (Unless he was distracted by something.) When it didn’t seem like Torao found something he needed to say, Luffy talked instead.

„We’re friends and I like you. Usopp says you’re scary, but you’re really not. You saved my life at Marineford - “

„There’s no need to thank me for that“

„You saved my life at Marineford and I liked you ever since. You have awesome tattoos and a really cool bear in your crew and you’re really nice.“

„I’m really not“, Torao denied, but he sounded like he’s already given up that argument. At least he was learning. Slowly, but he learned. Luffy knew that that argument was just for show anyway. _A reputation to uphold,_ or however Zoro phrased it. Not that Luffy had ever cared about reputations, his or those of other people. But if it was important enough for Torao to put in the effort, Luffy could respect that. So, no need to remind him that he _did_ help all those children in Punk Hazard. Law still remembered it anyway.

„You’re my friend.“, Luffy said instead, because really Torao was very slow on the uptake on that. It didn’t matter that he didn’t want to call them ‚friends‘, they were friends anyway. Because Luffy said so and because he really liked Torao and because Torao seemed like he needed a friend. „Even though no one can say your last name“, he added as an afterthought, because a great as Torao was, he had the worst last name.

„Literally everyone but you can. And I’ve told you to just call me Law“, Torao shot back, tho it lacked any real fire. Like he was tired of arguing and was just accepting his fate. Good, he was Luffy’s friend no matter how often Luffy needed to remind him of that.

„I really like you“, Luffy told him, once again for good measure. He didn’t get a real answer from Law on that, but his cheeks got a light color, like Sanji’s cheeks did, when Nami or Robin complimented his food. Sanji was always really happy then, so Torao had to be really happy now. And Luffy just called him his friend. Which apparently Torao needed to hear that they were friends way more, if it made him this happy from just hearing it once.

„I really like you, too, Strawhat-ya“, Torao mumbled and he couldn’t even look him in the eye, but that was alright with Luffy. If Luffy brought it up in front of his crew, Torao would probably deny ever having said that, like Zoro denied being worried about Sanji, too. But that didn’t matter, because Torao had said it and that made Luffy happier than almost anything in recent memory. (Sabo still being alive was a big thing, that made him happier than he ever remembered being, but that was the only other thing. Even Sanji’s cooking didn’t come before this and Sanji’s cooking was perfect.)

„Okay, so no more plans that would have you die. You’re too important for me to just let you die. Okay?“, Luffy insisted and Toraos eyes glazed over like he remembered something very important and very far away. Luffy knew that feeling so he allowed Torao the few seconds he very obviously needed, before he inquired again: „Okay?“

Torso seemed like he was abruptly thrown out of something rather intense, but he didn’t seem mad. One side of his lips quirked upwards, as if he wanted to smile, but it didn’t become a real smile. Which was another problem that Luffy would tackle eventually. (He’s seen Torao smirk plenty of times but he couldn’t remember one genuine smile.) For now, Torao’s insurance that, yes, he wouldn’t bet his life this easily again would have to be enough. He didn’t want Torao to promise to survive. Not like Ace did, not again. But he wanted Torao to do his best, to see him become the pirate king. Torso smirked again, at that, and mocked Luffy for being too sure of himself.

„What if I find the One Piece before you do?“, Torao asked, clearly not as serious as he pretended to be. But he was lighthearted again, the tension in the air completely dissolved, so Luffy could humor him. Torao had asked an important question, after all.

„You won’t. But I will still really like you, even when I’m King of the Pirates.“

And somehow, Law seemed really happy about this. Maybe, liking Torao more than originally planned would work out for Luffy, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Luffy is the best judge of character in the entirety of One Piece and you can pry that head canon out of my cold, dead hands.
> 
> Also, I hope you enjoyed the read!


End file.
